C.P. Snow — The Two Cultures, or: “Renaissance man is not possible”

The concept o f the Two Cultures is based on the view that there is a lack of communication between scientists and literary men. Snow expresses the view that the intellectual life of the whole of western society is increasingly being split into two polar groups. Snow, although a novelist himself, seems to condemn the literary intellectuals in his advocacy of science as the most revolutionary force in the world today. He is convinced that, because science is essentially "progressive”, and the political views of the scientists are more tenable and workable, the scientists would possess the means - and the desire -to end want and disease in every corner of the world

A possible Christian approach to aspects of contemporary British drama*

The essay hinges on two basic premises. The first is that after due consideration of purely aesthetic concerns, the ultimate impact of the work is to be evaluated with reference to the framework of the Christian faith. The second is a firm affirmation that the approach is a lay one from the viewpoints of both philosophy and theology. Artistic merit is the first concern of the literary critic

Koers – reflections on the origin and highs and lows of a focussed academic journal

Koers has been synonymous with the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (CHE) over a long period. Since its inception it has tracked the University and its history, and has provided an outlet for authors to voice their ideas and convictions about Christian scholarship and its role within the wider context of faith and scholarship. Its existence has not been without problems and threats and those members of the Koers Association and of the editorial board and more latterly the publications office have worked hard to ensure that the journal could go on existing in a way that would be a credit to the underlying ethos and philosophy, whilst also maintaining the highest academic standards

The comic vision in contemporary British drama*

There has long been controversy as to the necessity and validity of generic distinctions in literature, especially dramatic literature. Some of the earliest critical comment on literature was concerned with generic distinction and as Aristotle’s ideas (the earliest extant critical comment on literary genre) were firmly based on a study of plays performed at the time it would seem that he recognized that a generic type represented a particular attitude and vision of life on the part of the author

Quo Vadis the B.A. degree: Perceptions and visions1

Today is a very special day for all the graduates assembled to have a B.A. degree conferred on them. It is a day on which to celebrate the reward for hard work and for realized dreams. This is a very homogeneous group of people - in the sense that they will be receiving B.A. degrees, and for that reason it would be highly apposite to share some cherished thought and ideas about the B.A. degree

Sociocultural and political values in selected plays by South African playwrights

The paper deals with the issue of values expressed in South African plays, and takes a look at representative plays from the entire spectrum of South African drama - Afrikaans, English, Black drama and alternative Theatre. Following a survey of the field, discussions are provided of selected plays in all the sections. It emerges that there is a fair amount of homogeneity right across the board in terms of sociocultural and political values. There is also a strong insistence on value linked to Black consciousness in the plays by Black playwrights, which is important in view of the fact that the Black playwrights often have an overtly didactic and propagandists intention

Tragedy and the sovereignty of God: Christian literary criticism and the concept of tragedy

A Christian approach to literature is easily confused with a theological approach. There are many dangers implicit in such an approach. Sallie McFague TeSelle says the following about theologians who presume to violate the bounds of both theology and literature by attempting literary criticism: “There is no reason to suppose that those trained in theology, or philosophy for that matter, are likely to possess, what is essential to the practice of literary criticism, that ‘sensitiveness of the intelligence’ described by Matthew Arnold as equivalent to conscience in moral matters. A theological training seems to have a disabling effect and has subsequently to be struggled against when literary criticism is the concern.” (TeSelle 1966:4)

First-Year Student Transition at the University of the Free State during Covid‑19: Challenges and Insights

First-year seminars and university induction programmes are embedded with academic and social skillsrequired by students to transition into their first year of study. The first-year seminar at the Universityof the Free State is a credit-bearing module called UFS101, and is a prerequisite for degree completion.Students are assessed through summative assessment opportunities throughout the year. In 2020, theUFS101 module embarked on new territory by condensing the contact time for the first semester intoa week-long summer school. Furthermore, the summer school was presented a week prior to the start of university, with repeat sessions during the first week of class, and during the March holiday. However, due to national lockdown regulations as a result of Covid‑19, a part of the cohort had to self-study the content via an interactive online study guide. This created four distinct groups of students: those who attended face-to-face classes, some face-to-face classes and some self-study, self-study only, and students who could not access the content. In order to measure their transition into university, a questionnaire was distributed to the students, and the results were stratified according to one of the aforementioned categories. Unique similarities and differences were observed in the findings. The results depict that effective content design is at the heartbeat of student transition, but that other factors such as face-to-face interaction with students, and access to resources assist with the transition into university. This study highlighted the need to explore the challenges students experience within their first six months at university, and substantiates that this type of exploration should be routinely conducted to assist with the understanding and implementation of first-year student support

Nest temperature fluctuations in a cavity nester, the southern ground-hornbill

Southern ground-hornbills Bucorvus leadbeateri inhabit savanna and bushveld regions of South Africa. They nest in the austral summer, which coincides with the wet season and hottest daytime temperatures in the region. They are secondary cavity nesters and typically nest in large cavities in trees, cliffs and earth banks, but readily use artificial nest boxes. Southern ground-hornbills are listed as Endangered in South Africa, with reintroductions into suitable areas highlighted as a viable conservation intervention for the species. Nest microclimate, and the possible implications this may have for the breeding biology of southern ground-hornbills, have never been investigated. We used temperature dataloggers to record nest cavity temperature and ambient temperature for one artificial and 11 natural southern ground-hornbill tree cavity nests combined, spanning two breeding seasons. Mean hourly nest temperature, as well as mean minimum and mean maximum nest temperature, differed significantly between southern ground-hornbill nests in both breeding seasons. Mean nest temperature also differed significantly from mean ambient temperature for both seasons. Natural nest cavities provided a buffer against the ambient temperature fluctuations. The artificial nest provided little insulation against temperature extremes, being warmer and cooler than the maximum and minimum local ambient temperatures, respectively. Nest cavity temperature was not found to have an influence on the breeding success of the southern ground-hornbill groups investigated in this study. These results have potentially important implications for southern ground-hornbill conservation and artificial nest design, as they suggest that the birds can tolerate greater nest cavity temperature extremes than previously thought.The Ford Wildlife Foundation and the First Rand Foundation (Project reference : 033391).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jtherbio2018-05-31hb2017Veterinary Tropical Disease

Practice-based research: <i>Tracking creative creatures</i> in a research context

This article explores the concept of practice-based research as a viable research avenue for academics in creative disciplines with a view to contextualise the importance of research for all academics, including those in creative disciplines; investigate a framework for defining practice-based research; extrapolate existing models and methods of practice-based research from the literature; develop a plausible working strategy for practicebased research; and finally determine the extent to which the “Tracking creative creatures” project complies with the requirements of practice-based research. While practice-based research is fairly well represented in the literature, the peculiar characteristics of creative work require a reconceptualisation of how research imperatives are satisfied in practice-based research. Practical outputs as embodied research, the importance of the creative process and its reflective documentation and collaborative strategies in creative projects emerged as salient issues. The “Creative creatures” project was found to have complied with most of the requirements of practice-based research and certain proposed amendments to the approach followed with this project will assist future projects in attaining viable research status, but these need to be framed within an institutional and funding environment that fosters creative work as research